Results Of Our Resistance To Change
I can’t help but write and do a little ranting about how polluted the metro city parts of our country has become (e.g. Manila and Cebu).
Why can’t these transportation vehicle operators throw away those old jeepneys that cause health-hazardous air pollution, and just invest their previous income in those brand-new buses that have way good engine than the old ones?
I lived in this city since I was young, and those jeepneys still exist. It’s been almost 3 decades that those same old jeepneys are running around our city, and every equipment, in this example — a vehicle, has its own lifespan. And I think, its time to finally throw away those old clunky vehicles for good, for us to finally live in a CLEAN city. Those jeepneys were already junk items by other countries few years ago, if you think about it.
I know there are new air-conditioned buses already en-route around Cebu, and soon there will be additional 200 modern jeepneys to takeover Cebu roads by June 2020. But the thing is these modern buses are not locally made, which is why the cost per vehicle is so high (~1–2+ M each). Have you ever though how much cheaper vehicles would cost if it will be manufactured locally?
Why has our country been OK to be a dumpsite of all used items from neighboring countries? Korean, and Japanese surplus stores seem to open almost everywhere now, not to mention the famous Ukay-ukay (used clothes). I’m not against buying from these stores, if we can find something useful and of quality for a lesser price, why not, right?
What I’m trying to point is our country is full of talented people capable of creating something beautiful and useful to society. Why can’t we just create and even create more? Every new invention or novelty item is a result of many iterations. And people in other countries have been doing that years ago since then — that’s why they are efficient, and successful now in the creation process — look at China for example. They have almost perfected the manufacturing process, that they are the go-to resource when it comes to producing marketable goods. Why can’t we learn from these other races, and actually do action to improve our quality of life?
We can blame the government for being corrupt — yes true. Politics will always be there. But if we just start to make initiative, and set standards within ourselves, we wouldn’t allow other people to let us use junk. All of us deserve a quality living environment — free from pollution and junk. And I truly believe this is achievable if we just decide to make a change.
Its amazing how Indians already manufactured their own motorcycle, TVS. When I saw this new brand in some motorcycle dealers here in our city, I wonder which country it came from, since its not that famous for me. The sales person said its from India, which I confirmed with my google search after.
Why can’t we Filipinos be ashamed for not having creating something great and grand in all these years, after the world war? The world war ended 75 years ago — that is 7+ decades already. It only takes 5–10 years to master something. After that mastery, we can contribute something meaningful already that will benefit other people. Why can’t our amazing beautiful brains create something that is of value, and not just rely on the beautiful creations from other races? Why can’t we spare some budget (calling the govt & other big companies) to actually allocate on important development projects?
Here are some of the areas which I think needs enhancement / total overhaul in its processes:
- Farming
- Construction
- Transportation
If we enhance the processes for the above items, we can create more food quicker, build houses and buildings quicker, and the mode of transportation will be cheaper (if we build our own vehicles for example).
Let’s stop breaking and rebuilding our roads — for just a little (maybe much) take-away money the government officials are enjoying. The Philippine government should not waste our hard-earned taxes on these wasteful projects that do no progress. A more sustainable and quality living for the Filipino citizens now and in the future should be what the government’s efforts and funds be allocated to. We are already way behind where other countries are at now. If we want to break free from being a slave and working for other races, let’s start creating our own long-term solutions to our problems.
Because if not, it will be the other races who will own use once again. If you notice, most companies running here in our country are owned by US / Europe citizens? Basically, the usual setup is these other citizens will fund the company (so obviously they will have more share, depends on agreement.), and they will just hire a Filipino citizen to be their executive person, so running the business will be smooth legally (especially in dealing with government processes.) I’m not saying I’m not thankful for these foreign investors in our country. They are blessings too in some ways. But then, again, we, Filipinos are just working for them non-Filipinos, which means its their rules we shall follow, not ours. Just think of how many of our race are working night-shifts (to serve other races) just so they can earn & live, without thinking of the long-term negative effects of not being able to sleep at night, when our natural circadian rhythm expects us to.
I think being colonized by Spaniards for 300+ years makes us used to the relaxed Spanish culture, that we forget to plan ahead and strategize (like how other Asians — Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans — do). Because we are used to getting what we need from the abundance of our natural resources, we waste time by not doing something to improve ourselves and our situation. The Emiratis, which live in a land abundant in oil and gold, even prepared for future by enhancing their infrastructure, so they can live from tourism earnings if ever they run out of natural resources in the future. Why can’t we learn from them, and plan ahead too?
Some of us Filipinos are already living a wealthy life, yet most are still below the acceptable quality of living, and the measure of a country’s success is when even the poorest of its citizen can still have a quality life. So, we, as a nation, is still a work in progress. (I don’t want to consider us a failure yet.) Someone said that if he would be poor, he’d rather be poor in Australia. Why? Because their government is prepared to assist people in need (children’s education & allowance is their priority.) Maybe our government can afford these soon if budget is properly allocated, and not pick-pocketed by some sneaky politicians.
Regardless of what other people are doing, what we do is what matters most. I hope we can realize sooner than later which things are of value, and be doing more things that is of greater value. Let’s stop wasting time going to malls, buying non-sense clutter, or going to coffee shops and sipping pricey drinks just to kill time. Time is money, and its a limited resource. Whatever time one spent cannot be taken back. And I hope we make use of our time in more meaningful things, like creating something of value — which can be worth more than what you currently earn. Haven’t you noticed how Google’s platform is designed to promote creation? They will pay you once you reach a certain amount of views & subscribers. I know you can’t do that if you are not famous in the first place, which means you need to create more and more things of value (videos in this case), before you reach that certain level of popularity in order to earn.
I believe that if we create a culture of creation, and less consumption, we will master what we truly love doing, and as a result we can create something of greater value, that will be economically useful, and beautiful. If consuming beautiful and quality products from other races make you happy, wouldn’t it make you happier if you are the one creating that instead? I think this is the kind of change we need as Filipinos — to not be content being just a user / consumer of other people’s goods.
If we want better results in the next few years, let’s build a nation ready to play, experiment, and create something on a daily basis. Who knows, we might discover another breakthrough product soon that other races haven’t think of yet.
